JLR pumped ₹1.5 lakh crore into revival, but China slowdown clouds recovery

The slowdown in China is affecting revival hopes of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), which spent £13.8billion (around ₹1.5 lakh crore) in the last five years for the modernisation of plants and setting up an EV ecosystem. The British subsidiary of Tata Motors Ltd is expecting market performance revival with the launch of reimagined Jaguar—Type 00, which was unveiled at the Miami Art Week in South Florida, by late 2025. It will also launch Range Rover Electric which will finally hit showrooms this year. Range Rover’s first EV has 57,000 buyers on the waitlist.

JLR expects £29 billion revenue and £1.3billion free cash flow, post this year's £3.8 billion investment. The annual EBIT margin is expected to be 8.5% in FY25, the company says. In FY24, the free cash flow was £1.38 billion on a revenue of £21.1billion. The company gave the outlook of generating £1.3billion FCF in FY25. But the FCF is just above £100 million in the first three quarters aggregately.

JLR will complete an investment of £3.8billion in FY25. The FY24 investment was £3.3billion. The total investment between FY21 and FY25 will come to £13.8billion.

The British carmaker's problem point is China now. The company executives said JLR in China maintained resilient performance despite macro headwinds in the December quarter. China's premium market is down 14% and ICE market is down 16% in the first three quarters of FY25. JLR's export to China reduced 6%, while the local manufacturing joint venture with state-owned Chery, reduced 27%.

As part of JLR's journey to become a net zero carbon business by 2039, the company is transitioning to produce all-electric vehicles by 2030 as part of its reimagine strategy. This shift to complete EV demands significant investment to upgrade the existing facilities and meet the new space requirements, according to the company.

In November last year, JLR announced that it stopped selling new Jaguar cars in the UK ahead of a relaunch as an electric-only brand in 2026. Its first car within the new brand will be a four-door GT built in Solihull, West Midlands.

JLR's revenue for the first three quarters of this financial year was £21.2 billion, which was flat year‑on‑year. Profit before tax and exceptional items (PBT) in the nine months was £1.6 billion, up 7%.

At the end of the quarter, the cash balance was £3.5 billion and net debt was £1.1 billion, with gross debt of £4.6 billion. Total liquidity was £5.1 billion, including the £1.6 billion undrawn revolving credit facility.